


It'll Be Okay

by SummerInAmsterdam



Series: EtNuary [3]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: And his friends love him too, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Guilt, I'm a little new to writing afterlife stories, Jc loves his friends, Post-Traumatic Stress, Regret
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22110319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerInAmsterdam/pseuds/SummerInAmsterdam
Summary: "His friends needed him, and he was gonna be right there for them."EtNuary Day 3: Jc Caylen
Relationships: The Hippie | JC Caylen and everyone
Series: EtNuary [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589350
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21





	It'll Be Okay

“I dub this land… _New Everlock!_ ” Jc declared when he’d first arrived in whatever strange afterlife this was.

It was a fitting name, as far as he was concerned. He’d been exploring the place for a bit after he was killed (He _was_ killed, wasn’t he? Yeah, he got stabbed a bunch of times), and it was basically identical to the town he’d been exploring with his friends not too long ago. This would probably be where they’d be spending the rest of eternity - or at least for a short while, maybe. Either way, he was okay with that.

Jc was never the kind of person to sweat the small stuff. Throughout his life, he was raised to never hold a grudge. He firmly believed that people deserved another chance, even if they made mistakes. He also believed that a person could never be broken forever. Sometimes, all they needed was someone to help put them back together. Jc seemed to fit into that role like a puzzle piece in this strange new world. His friends needed him, and he was gonna be right there for them.

_“I let them all down. I’m a failure.”_

Roi was the second to arrive, not too long after Jc got there. He found Roi unconscious in a little fenced area containing some mosaics. He seemed different than he had when Jc had last seen him. That was probably to be expected, considering he was dead, but this different didn’t seem right. He seemed _off_ somehow. For a while, he lost the enthusiasm and optimism that Jc saw when he’d first met him outside of Everlock.

He caught him outside the arcade, sat down next to him, and asked what was up. Roi finally explained that he wanted to protect their friends, but he died before he could “do anything worthwhile.” In his own eyes, he wasn’t a protector. He sucked at being a daredevil, and he sucked at being a hero.

That wasn’t what Jc heard, though. He was told that he’d basically sacrificed himself for the group. He reminded Roi that he pushed through the challenges, and he did everything he could to help the gang. He put the needs of the town and his friends before his own, and he left that world fighting. As far as Jc was concerned, that was _definitely_ something a hero would do.

Jc held out his fist, and Roi gratefully pounded back.

_“I’m useless… I can’t do anything right…”_

They found Teala in a wooded area just outside of town just as she was waking up. She was glad to see the boys, but she carried some aura of regret. Something was definitely wrong. As more and more people arrived that night, she seemed to shrink away, as if she didn’t want them to know she was there.

When Jc met up with her at the carousel and asked her about it, Teala shrugged it off. After a bit of prying, however, she finally spilled the beans. She felt that they wanted Jc to come back from that first challenge instead of her. After that, the group seemed to turn on her. She felt like she was nothing but a load that the group had to carry with them while they did all the work. She was convinced that the rest of the group didn’t want her, not even in New Everlock. In her mind, she was completely and utterly useless, and the group was better off without her.

But that couldn’t have been the full story. By that point, the others in New Everlock seemed to regret the way they treated her, that was for sure. But there was something else, too. Jc suspected something was up when Matt appeared, only to disappear an hour or so later. It wasn’t until a few of the others filled him in that he put the pieces together and confirmed it. 

The two of them sat on the platform, and Teala told him about what she and Roi had found. They both figured it out together - Matt wasn’t there because of what they found. He was alive because of something vital that _she_ helped find for the group. They wouldn’t have been able to bring Matt back to his home and his family if it weren’t for her.

It was barely there, but Jc detected the smallest hint of a smile.

_“I’ll never forgive them. They can all get sucked out of here and burn in Hell for all I care.”_

When Colleen stumbled out of that creepy-looking iron maiden thing, it had taken her a long time to calm down and speak coherently. When she finally managed to stop herself from shaking, the first thing she said was: “They killed me… they all _FUCKING KILLED ME!!!_ ”

It took a while to get through to her. She was willing to be around Jc, Roi and Teala, but she would go out of her way to avoid the others. If one of them walked into a room, she’d immediately storm out of it. She carried a seemingly permanent grudge for a very long time after that night. It hurt everyone around her, but Jc could tell that it was hurting her, too.

The little mechanism that activated the ferris wheel it kept getting misplaced, but they soon found it and managed to get some time on it. It took a lot of convincing, and it was a bit frustrating at certain points, but Colleen was eventually ready to listen. Jc said that this couldn’t possibly be what she wanted the rest of her time here to be like. Anyone full of that much anger and hatred couldn’t get by carrying that all the time. It wasn’t healthy.

Nobody could get by on their own. Humans are social creatures. They sometimes needed the support of the people around them. And if everyone held grudges for the things people did in the past, especially if they were forced into a situation they didn’t want to be in, then where would they be?

Colleen said she’d think about that, but she sounded sincere.

_“Why don’t you hate me? I killed you. I killed so many of you…”_

When Safiya arrived - in the Divine Lounge of all places - she was horrified. Rightfully so, after she’d told the others what happened to her. But that wasn’t even the main thing that was bothering her. She spent a long time avoiding most of the others, but not out of spite like Colleen had done. It seemed more like she didn’t _want_ to avoid them, but she avoided them anyway. She’d always be sitting somewhere in silence, always staring at something a million miles away. She always seemed to be on the brink of tears, but never let them fall.

He eventually stumbled across her sitting at a booth all by herself in Fatman Slims. He grabbed them a couple of drinks, sat down across from her, and said, “Spill.”

There was nothing to spill, she’d said; she told him he should have known why she was avoiding everyone. He didn’t know for sure, but he had an inkling. The thought of a Jack-in-the-Box, clowns, and knives crossed his mind.

Maybe Safiya thought she didn’t deserve their friendship or forgiveness, but Jc didn’t think so in the slightest. What was in the past was in the past. Sure, dying sucked, but it happened. No one could change that. She was only doing what she had to do to save Teala - he couldn’t be mad at her for protecting their friend. He’d already forgiven her. The others missed her. They wanted to see her smile again, like she had back when the carnival was actually a carnival. Back when there were no clowns, or monsters, or demons - just a bunch of friends hanging out and getting to know each other.

Her tears finally shed.

_“I miss them. I miss them all so much…”_

Rosanna’s arrival in some sort of ritualistic setting was probably the most disheartening. They were happy to see her, but sad that she’d ended up like them. Even so, she kept a smile on her face. She never let her cheery and loving demeanor fall, even when times were tough. Despite it all, Jc could tell the little Jet-Setter was hiding something. And soon, it was confirmed.

He ran into her on one of his walks, and found her staring longingly at one of the prize counters. He was about to ask if she wanted to play a round, but then he recognized what this game was. It was the same knock-em-down game that he played with MatPat. The same one that helped him win that stuffed horse for him. And there were a hole bunch of those horses lined up at the very top row.

Rosanna told him that she missed her best friend more than words can describe. And Matt wasn’t the only one. There were so many others: her family, her dog, her boyfriend, the rest of her friends, - everyone she’d left behind in 2018. She missed them, but she also knew that she had to hope not to see them again any time soon.

Jc assured her that she wasn’t alone. Everyone had loved ones who missed them, and they missed their loved ones right back. The best thing they could do was hold onto that love, and Rosanna assured him that she would. He also encouraged her to imagine the great things their friends must have been doing.

She did just that, and told him what she was thinking. She imagined Nikita holding onto the fire in her heart, and never letting it burn out. She imagined Matt living a wonderful life with his friends, his wife, and his new little boy. She imagined Joey finding happiness again, and spending the rest of his life surrounded by love.

Her bright smile immediately returned.

_“she shot me… she shot me…”_

Manny was in a tent full of popcorn (Why the heck was it even full of _popcorn?_ ) when the group found him. He was the last of the guests of that night to get to New Everlock, both thankfully and unfortunately. For a while after he arrived, he barely uttered a word. The only thing Jc could make out was Manny muttering that someone shot him. It took even longer for him to reveal the name of his killer. Jc immediately understood.

It was hard to tell for sure what Manny was thinking. For the longest time, he’d just wander around town aimlessly. It was like the former Record Producer was on autopilot, walking and walking and not caring where he ended up next. Whenever anyone would ask how he was feeling, he would just say, “...i don’t know…” Jc knew he probably shouldn’t pressure Manny into saying anything if he didn't want to, so he decided to give him time. At least until he was ready to talk about it.

Manny eventually asked Jc to meet him at one of the carnival games. He told Jc that he’d been spending a lot of time trying to figure out how he felt about his death. Specifically, how he felt about Nikita after what happened. Jc helped Manny talk through it to help him figure out what the heck was going on with his brain. It was complicated, but Jc assured him that was he was feeling was totally okay.

After a long time, Manny revealed that no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t hate Nikita. He had a feeling he should have, but he just couldn’t bring himself to stop loving her. Manny went on to tell him everything they’d been through together, all the way up until his last moments. Despite it all, he still loved his best friend. And as much as he missed her, he was glad she wasn’t there with them. He wanted her to keep going and keep living her life “like the bad bitch she was.” Like a good friend, Jc was happy to listen through the entire thing.

Manny took a breath, finally sure of himself.

Jc sat alone on a bench outside one of the stores. He had a lot of time to think, now that his friends were doing a little better. In return, they'd all helped Jc through his own struggles. They helped him talk through how he felt about his death, his family and friends back home, and the life he once loved, just like he had for them. Despite the rocky starts they’d all had when they first arrived, they were all willing to help lift each other up. He had a feeling that they’d all get through whatever would happen next together.

“Hey, Jc.” Roi’s voice came from behind him.

He turned around to see his friends. They all seemed okay, and it made Jc feel okay, too.

Colleen gestured to the ferris wheel. “Calliope and Mortimer found that little ferris wheel doohickey again. We were gonna ride on it for a bit, you wanna come with?”

He smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy EtNuary to our favorite flower child!!


End file.
